I frequently add a splash of half and half or heavy cream before microwaving a cream based pasta dish. It's never as good as the night before, but it's still pretty tasty.

I use a bit of water which steams up in the microwave and makes it taste like fresh...and this is coming from a person who hates leftovers!

i don't even bother.

The classic solution is to create a liaison using an egg yolk. Warm the leftovers in a pan over low heat. Take a tablespoon or two of the warm sauce from the pan and add it to an egg yolk, stir vigorously, then readd the mixture to the pan and stir. The egg yolk will act as an emulsifier and pull the sauce back together.

I got this tip from the Maggiano's take-home boxes...put the pasta in a oven-safe dish (I line it in aluminum foil for easy cleanup) and gently head through (350 or so). I find the sauce doesn't separate as much as it would in a microwave. I'd even try the previous commenters methods of adding a bit of water or cream before putting it in the oven. Good luck!

I agree with Jen P. that the oven is the way to go, and I would definitely add a small amount of cream or milk first. Hope it turns out!

Learned this through my parents, probably not the best...

Put the pasta into a microwave safe bowl, wet a small tissue and place it on the side of the bowl, place microwave safe dish on top. Throw it in the microwave with time being the greatest variant from each microwave.

The wet nap steams the food and the plate on top keeps the cleaning of the microwave to a minimum while isolating the steam.

Haven't tried it but that's what I would do.

Hmm, never tried it but maybe instead of plain cream or milk a little bit of mayonnaise would stabilize the emulsion?

i love that recipe but i don't think there's a good way to reheat. i nuke for just a bit and refresh w/ a squirt of lemon. depending, i might also do a touch of olive oil. i find the flavors deaden a little bit and that perks it up.

I have given up on getting the exact same meal and always shoot for a remodel. I like to toss in some shredded parmesan and throw it in a semi-hot pan with a little olive oil. Or else I add olive oil and ricotta or top with mozzarella and throw it in the oven. I still get the same flavor in a crunchier or cheesier variation.

milk!

I definitely like to spritz with a water bottle which i keep in the kitchen for these exact uses. I'll then cover with a microwave splatter shield. I find that with a good stir afterward, The sauce is almost a creamy as new. Of course, cream would be an even better solution, but i find water does the job well enough.

Pasta absorbs liquid as it sits, so I always add a little milk or cream (or even water in a pinch) when I reheat it. It won't be exactly the same, but it won't be dry and oily either.

I usually heat mine in the microwave, but I think Jen P. and onebravegirl have the right idea of using the oven! Only problem is, I hate heating up the oven for just one dish of leftovers. : (

But yes, to recap - adding liquid is important!

I am probably very weird, but I often eat leftovers cold. Also I don't have a microwave. But I find that I enjoy the taste of cold or room-temperature leftovers the next day. OK, yeah, I guess I am weird.

Not weird at all. Lots of cream based sauces (or not cream based, i.e. tomato sauce on pizza....) are tasty when cold the next day. There's actually one dish that I do not like at all when warm, but love cold.

If you had any cream in the fridge, I would heat some in a sauce pot over low heat and add the left overs and let the temp come up slowly. Adjust seasoning.

Cold alfredo is one of my favorite things. I usually eat it for breakfast.

I'm glad I'm not alone on my cold alfredo love. Or cold macaroni and cheese, for that matter.

I've never had to reheat a cream sauce before. If I have leftover pasta tossed in sauce, I either eat it cold, as mentioned above, or re-heat in a frying pan -- the edges crisp slightly.

don't know if this will work for your recipe, but if there is plenty of sauce, i reserve some of the cold sauce. heat up the dish, pour off the oil after it seperates, then mix in some of the cold sauce with the heated dish.

the results are not piping hot, but it's plenty warm enough, and ends up being quite appetizing and appealing, with most of the flavor and consistency of the original dish.

i do this all the time when i re-heat my chicken with mustard cream sauce, and when i reheat pasta with 4 cheese sauce.

Long, long ago when the world was young there was a contraption called a "double boiler." It consisted of a larger pan for boiling water, cleverly constructed to hold within it a smaller pan. To reheat pasta or anything, 1) boil water in the big pan 2) put the pasta in the smaller pan 3) put smaller pan inside bigger pan 4) heat pasta until hot and delicious enough. I wonder if you can even buy them any more.

I have definitely had success reheating cream-sauced leftovers but never in the microwave. Instead of the oven I use a covered saucepan on low heat; stirring helps but not so often that you lose too much heat/steam. Adding an extra splash or two of cream or milk also helps keep things creamy.

I just bought a new double boiler at Amazon. If you don't want another kitchen gadget, just put some water in your larger saucepan and your food in the smaller...works like a charm.

Like Keritha suggests, I've found that the best way to reheat is creamy pastas is in a double-boiler. I don't think I've ever had the sauce separate into an oily mess on me with that method.